The crypto market currently faces an unusual period of high tension and low prices. Although the biggest assets are not falling as low as it has been in the past, the Crypto Fear and Greed Index has plummeted to an index of 5 indicating extreme panic among investors. This decrease in sentiment is despite considerable news of Coinbase about the future of AI-based finance.
Coinbase launches self-directed AI agentic wallets.
Coinbase has also introduced a wallet architecture that targets AI agents. Such “Agentic Wallets” enable autonomous programs to spend money, make money, and trade with money without a human operator involved. This technology is meant to establish a machine economy in which AI will be able to perform complicated financial work on its own.
Moreover, these wallets work with Base network which is an Ethereum Layer 2 solution. They use the x402 payment system that has already been used to implement more than 50 million transactions. The transition allows AI to track the performance of decentralized finance (DeFi) and rebalance portfolios 24/7.
Crypto Market is in Extreme Fear in 2026.
In mid-February 2026, the Crypto Fear and Greed Index reached its lowest point in years (5). This score is an extreme fear and complete market capitulation. Interestingly, this comes at the time when Bitcoin is close to trading at about 67,000 and XRP is close to trading at approximately 1.38.
In particular, the index has been below 25 weeks thus showing that the price discovery is exhibiting panic. Precedent indicates that this level of low activity is typical of big market crashes, including the Terra Luna crash of 2022. Hence, this is a possibility of contrarian buying by long-term investors according to many analysts.
Sentiment Score The index had fallen to 5 in a few days.
- Market Cap: overall crypto value has dropped about 22 percent since the beginning of the year 2026.
- Altcoin Weakness: A majority of the altcoins have underperformed relative to Bitcoin.
- Institutional Tilt: Hundreds of millions of dollars in capital is flowing into Bitcoin ETFs and retail investor interest is damp.
Chairman of SEC, Atkins, is in support of CLARITY Act.
On February 12, 2026, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins appeared before the Congress on digital asset oversight. He officially supported the CLARITY Act, which he describes a federal cryptocurrency market framework as long overdue. This act is meant to give the confidence to businesses in the United States to innovate.
Also, Atkins declared project crypto which is a collaborative project between the SEC and the CFTC. This program will create a token taxonomy to enable investors to know their compliance requirements well. This is aimed at making the U.S the safest place in terms of international capital markets.
Robinhood Cryptocurrency Reports Persisted Retail Traffic.
Recently, the Robinhood management observed that retail investors were not abandoning the digital assets. Rather, a good portion of users are buying the dip and diversify their portfolio on long-tail assets. In spite of a recession in overall trading volume, activity in DeFi and self-custody wallets is active.
Nonetheless, the Q4 2025 revenues of Robinhood were lower than projected because the revenue in crypto transactions decreased by 38 percent. The notional trading volumes decreased as the market reversed to former highs. However, the total assets of the platform had increased to $324 billion with the highest level of net deposits made by the users.
- Crypto Revenue: Came down to 221 million in the fourth quarter.
- User Behavior: Retail participants are moving towards long term holding and staking.
- Gold Subscriptions: Hits a new high of 4.2 million subscribers.
- Market Pressure: The first quarter volumes January 2026 volumes indicate more head winds.
Ripple Unveils Ripple Highlights Strategy at XRP Community Day 2026.
On February 11 and 12, 2026 Ripple sponsored its annual XRP Community Day. CEO Brad Garlinghouse pointed out that XRP makes up the North Star of the company mission. He estimated that the CLARITY Act will be signed within 75 percent probability by the close of April 2026.
Another point brought up by the event was the expansion of XRP ETFs, which have experienced more than 1.2 billion total inflows. Ripple President Monica Long presented a roadmap that aims at moving institutional payment flows to the XRP Ledger. The implications of these updates are as follows: although the mood in the market is fearful, infrastructure of regulated finance is still growing.
Crypto news writer since 2022, covering blockchain, digital assets, and market regulation.
Focused on clear, accurate reporting and simplified analysis for global readers.